CBF has joined a Virginia coalition of farm and conservation groups urging Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and state legislators to finish the job of restoring the health of Virginia rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

The Virginia coalition, including CBF, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and the Virginia Agribusiness Council among others, is calling on Gov. Kaine and the Virginia General Assembly to budget $100 million a year for 10 years to fully fund the cost-share programs. The coalition calls for an annual $100 million budget payment, to be financed by 1/10 of one cent of the state sales tax.

CBF members can help by letting Gov. Kaine and Virginia elected officials know they support this funding by signing CBF’s online petition. Go to www.cbf.org/VApetition. For more information, contact Emily Francis at efrancis@cbf.org.

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Money thrown at a problem without going to the source of the problem will not cure anything.
Why not petition to get OMEGA banned from taking any menhaden in CB for a few years.
Our two biggest filters are disappearing--Menhaden and Oysters, without these natural filters more fish will die, more aquatic growth and more people will catch different waterborne disease.
Remove OMEGA and half the problem is gone.

You are so right about the critical role menhaden play in the Bay's ecology, both as filter feeders and as an important part of the food chain. We've been actively pursuing conservation efforts for some years. As I'm sure you're aware, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission issued a menhaden management plan in 2001 though no action was taken until last year, when Virginia imposed its first-ever cap on the commercial menhaden harvest. While some, such as yourself, advocate a complete moratorium, the compromise reached between the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Virginia General Assembly, and Omega Protein marked a watershed itself. It has avoided costly litigation and it's gotten the process toward conservation of this critical resource moving.

The 2006 agreement caps commercial harvests for five years, while research can be conducted on the importance of menhaden to the Chesapeake Bay region and the effect the fishery may be having on it. In July, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission approved funding for this crucial study.

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